MOOSOMIN — Saskatchewan has many amazing features including a wealth of natural resources beneath our feet. While oil, coal and potash have been utilized for several decades, exciting developments are being made for materials used in alternative forms of energy as well.
Those resources are something Souris-Moose Mountain MP Dr. Robert Kitchen says he believes ought to be further explored, as he looks to priorities for 2024 especially given the opportunity in this region.
“We have the geothermal plant that’s been being looked at in Torquay and in the brine that comes out of that, there’s a huge amount of lithium in there,” he said. “As well, my understanding is there’s large amounts of lithium in the Stoughton area, which is a product that is needed. You look at graphite and all the minerals that are out there that are needed for solar panels. Those are things that we have a high amount of in the riding and those are things we need to take and utilize where they’re appropriate, instead of importing them from dictator-led countries around the world that treat their citizens with total disregard.”
Taking a global perspective, marketing the resources found in Saskatchewan makes both economic and ethical sense, according to Kitchen.
“Germany’s had to go back to coal-based power and they want LNG — we have natural gas in Saskatchewan which could be exported to Germany and yet instead of that, we have this present government that sends back parts to the Russians such that they can export their natural gas to Germany,” he said. “Yet, you have Russia and their illegal invasion of Ukraine and we want to turn around and say ‘that’s okay,’ yet we won’t use our own natural gas where we can use LNG and ship that over to that part of the world. It just makes no sense.”
Kitchen also listed a crucial resource that he values most of all — the people in his riding, and the fortunate opportunity he has to meet with them to learn of their successes and concerns.
“The ability to communicate and get out and about with my constituents is very important to me,” Kitchen said. “Whether that’s up in Moosomin and surrounding area — Rocanville, Fairlight, etc. Getting into those areas to communicate and hear from them I think is probably the biggest bonus of what we’ve done over the past year. I can’t thank my constituents enough for that opportunity to sit there and talk with them and hear not only the positives but also the negatives.
“There have been a fair number of negatives that we were wanting to change and we will continue to push on that to try and make certain that when we get that opportunity to have an election that we make those changes,” he expanded.
When asked about the largest challenge he’s heard over the past year from constituents, Kitchen pointed toward the high cost of living and the impact that has on everyone.
“Ultimately, I think that the big things obviously are the huge inflationary costs that have happened on all Canadians,” he said. “Whether that is rent, whether that is groceries, those are huge impacting items on Canadians. As we move forward, those are things that definitely we want to see curtailed and brought down; bringing down the prices of our food, bringing down the price of home heating. Likewise, the inflationary cost for rental and even housing markets have escalated quite exponentially.”
Part of the solution is one Kitchen’s colleagues all seem to agree on, that of getting rid of the Carbon Tax entirely. Such an action may not be realized unless there is a change in the federal government, but for now, Kitchen says MPs will continue to prompt changes to the tax as it currently stands.
“We’ve said for the longest time, we will axe that carbon tax, that’s what we want to do,” he said. “Obviously, we want to become government, we’re going to take every step we can between now and then to do things to try and pressure this government to at least axe the tax, whether that is on people for simple little exemptions on their home heating. This Liberal government has created that exemption for the East Coast, but not for our constituents in Souris-Moose Mountain. We want to make certain that we exempt that tax, because by exempting that tax, that puts money back in your pocket. It’s not only that tax that’s being escalated, but there’s a GST on top of that tax. So again, you take away that tax, the GST is gone, the tax is gone, that money is now in your pocket and you can decide what you think is best and where you think it’s best to spend that money.”
While the next federal election could be as far away as Oct. 2025, Kitchen sees change as an opportunity heading into 2024.
“The big opportunity that I see and want to see is that election,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing — to get to that election and find a way to defeat this government. The unfortunate part is that you have an NDP-supported government and that gives the Liberals so many aspects of things. That’s a huge challenge to try and bring them down, but that’s the number one goal is to see us defeat this present government.”
